If you have any gently used (or new) coats, jackets, sweaters or other winter apparel you can spare, Warming Philly would love to hear from you in time for its Nov. 17 charitable drive.

The annual outreach effort was spearheaded by students at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School in 2008, and the group’s volunteers have since collected thousands of clothing items — including hats, gloves and mittens, socks, scarves, boots, snow and sweatpants — for area folks who are down on their luck.

This year’s recipients are Conshohocken’s Colonial Neighborhood Council, a grassroots nonprofit that provides aid and emergency services to families and individuals in the Colonial School District (www.colonialneighborhoodcouncil.com); Youth Health Empowerment Service, a Philadelphia-based health and leadership development program for adolescents and young adults (y-hep.org); and St. Francis Inn Ministries, a Franciscan, Eucharistic community that ministers to the poor and homeless of Philadelphia (stfrancisinn.org).

Participating couldn’t be easier. Contributors simply bag or box donations, label them “Warming Philly” and leave them on a porch, doorstep or other front entry. Warming Philly’s crew — about a dozen-strong — will pick them up Nov. 17 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

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The organization’s members have already blanketed Plymouth, Whitemarsh and Conshohocken with informational fliers. If they missed your address, consider this a personal invitation to join 2012’s campaign. To have your home or business added to Nov. 17’s route, contact either Michael Banerjee at dalfoni@yahoo.com or 610-331-9284 or Kevin Hennessy at khennessy52@aol.com or 610-389-1026. The two Whitemarsh residents, members of PW’s Class of 2012 and currently freshmen at Penn State’s University Park campus, are Warming Philly co-presidents.

In addition, Banerjee and Hennessy welcome inquiries about alternate pickup dates if necessary and note, “If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. Your donation can help keep someone warm this winter.”

Warming Philly was founded by 2011 PW grad Colin Steinberg, who now attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“ is still actively involved with the group but in more of an advisory capacity,” Banerjee explains. “Also, since Kevin and I have taken over, Warming Philly has discontinued its solicitation and acceptance of monetary donations, meaning we only accept donations of clothing. Warming Philly, however, is still a completely student-run initiative.”

“This year, we hope to increase the amount of clothing collected two-fold and seem to be on track to do just that,” he says.

According to Banerjee, he, Hennessy and Steinberg “make any decisions related to Warming Philly together” and share the view “that it’s important for people who are in a position to help others to do so … regardless of crisis situations like .”

“When Colin founded this group, he did so for that very reason,” he says. “It’s easy to forget that people are suffering as it is, even when there isn’t a situation like the one created by the hurricane. When a disaster like this hurricane hits, they suffer even more.

“Warming Philly and its members are not looking for recognition. We genuinely care about the people in our community and want to do what we can to help those who are less fortunate than we are.”